it is the last thing we need, people slammed by sandy now dealing with a nasty new storm of gusty winds, rain, and snow. >> compromise or confrontation? both sides in congress promise to work together to head off fiscal disaster, even as they disagree over how to do it. >> and up in the air. we're going on two days now since the election with several house races still too close to call. it is not over yet, everyone. good morning. welcome to "early start," everyone. >> nice to have you with us. it is 5:00 a.m. in the east.

up first, we're going to start with mother nature. she is showing absolutely no mercy. this morning the northeast is getting rocked again. it is a powerful nor'easter pounding a region already devastated by superstorm sandy. 600,000 people without power for nine days in new york and new jersey. some forced to evacuate or hunker down overnight in the face of 60 mile an hour winds, two to four foot storm surge and a half foot of snow. more than 1,000 flights were canceled in new york and philadelphia. the path train between new jersey and new york is back to limited service under the hudson river after being shut ahead of the storm. penn station in new york was closed for a while last night. but it is back open today. my goodness. we have team coverage of this untimely winter storm. suzanne candiotti is live in new jersey. first, we begin with rob marciano, he is in staten island, new york, where they are still reeling from last week's hurricane.

rob? >> reporter: yes, are they ever. they were worried about this storm for sure. one thing we didn't expect was this much snow. at least in new york city proper. several inches falling in new york city and central park, breaking a record for the amount of snowfall therement and here, along staten island, we're right near the beach, we're a couple hundred yards where the ocean came in. at that time it was up to about my shoulders. this house behind me was shifted completely off the foundation. the people are not staying there. there are a number of people in this neighborhood that are hunkering down and, you know, trying to stay warm and survive without heat or power. all right. let's talk about the storm in general. we had some impressive snow totals across connecticut, upwards of a foot there. i saw one report of a foot in manchester, new jersey, a town also hit very hard by this storm. suzanne candiotti will have more on that. wind gusts also impressive, especially in eastern long island. and buzzards bay, a wind gust

over hurricane strength. goodness. all right. here's where the storm is off the coast of massachusetts. still snowing in parts of connecticut and long island. this thing is not done by any stretch. they were worried about the storm surge here because we're so close to the ocean and shoreline has been damaged. the protective berms have been damaged as well. we didn't get that, thankfully i caught up with a family that has been surviving really in their house since sandy came through more than a week ago. listen to what they had to say. >> i went through the most pain i ever went through in my whole life from being he lek cuted trying to get back into my house to watching all my possessions and my family practically almost dying. >> this has been a week from hell. i mean, you know, i'm grateful that i have my family. >> reporter: no power, no heat

for them, obviously. and some people that got their power back on have now lost it. over 600,000 outages for con-edison alone. you can bet that number is going to be much higher. >> i can't believe that guy survived being electrocuted. what you won't do for your family, right, rob? thank you so much. >> reporter: exactly. >> it is tough a lot of places in the tri-state area. now to new jersey where sandy made land fall nine days ago. chris christie said the storm could send the recovery moving backwards. we'll go ahead now to the jersey shore. suzanne candiotti is joining us live from asbury park, new jersey. i can't believe the snow that accumulated. officials in the state are taking this very seriously. i understand there have been mandatory evacuations. >> reporter: there have been mandatory evacuations along some low lying areas along the coast here.

not all, but some. and that was done protectively. you can see why. not only the rain we got overnight but, of course, it quickly changed into snow late in the afternoon. you can see it measured, i would say, about two inches. finally, it stopped overnight. so now we only have occasionally the bitter wind. it is definitely cold out here. and now people have to deal with waking up to find out whether they have power. in this area of asbury park, if we slowly give you a look, the lights are still on. we never lost power at the hotel where we hunkered down last night. it was filled with a lot of people who still do not have power at their house. in all, john, roughly 390,000 customers in new jersey remain without power. we know that at least 40,000 to 50,000 of due to this nor'easter. >> thanks, so much, susan candiotti. keep checking with us online here.

you can follow us on cnn weather on twitter. we'll give you all the latest information. president obama back at the white house. it wasn't the welcome that his staff had intended. they wanted to greet him on the south lawn. but the bad weather changed those plans. the first family took air force one then arrived at the white house by motorcade instead. >> the president's first order of business, avoiding the fiscal cliff. congressional leaders from both parties conceding the election with a call to compromise. what that comprise is, that hasn't been ironed out. w we'll get to what they said. >> the presidential vase over except in florida. the electoral votes are i will stun claimed. they're not make or break this time. president obama still holds a lead there. >> seven house races still up for grabs this morning across the country including the heated contest on florida's treasure coast between tea party

republican allen west and democratic challenger patrick murphy. right now murphy does have a very slim lead of less than 2500 votes. but west not conceding at all. actually, loudly not conceding. in palm springs, california, mary bono mack, she isn't giving up. she trails democrat areraul rui. >> so we're minding your business. u.s. stock futures are flat this morning. >> the markets had a rough day yesterday. chris teens romans here to explain this big selloff. is there an explanation? >> can you see the sectors reacting to a second obama administration. let me show you what it looked like, 313 points, the first dow close below 13,000 in three months. that was the worst day of the year. more than 2% down. when i talk about the internals

of the market, i'm talking about banks, insurers, cole companies, energy companies, they fell because, in fact, they think they're going to have higher costs. the markets think they're going to have higher costs in a second obama administration. you saw some obama care related stocks like hospitals up on the assumption that obama care is now secure. the internals showed us how investors in different sectors were reacting to a second obama presidency. but there were also concerns over europe and the fiscal cliff and the fact that now you have this election out of the way, you still have the very big problems still facing us. debt crisis, markets started to turn yesterday when mario drogy made some comments about concerns about germany. so this wasn't just a u.s. story overall. you put these things altogether and it all ended up at 313 point decline for the dow. also concerns about the debt ceiling. we're coming up again on the debt ceiling. remember the debt ceiling is

what got us into this fiscal cliff mess in the first place. there will be a fight over how to raise the debt krelgment or that could be wrapped up in how they fix the fiscal cliff. all of these things -- i want to remind you, the last time the president was elected, the stock market tumbled sharply, worse than this for two days in a row. but that time four years ago, the whole world was falling apart. we were in the midst of a financial crisis. this time 300 points. futures are flat this morning. at least at this hour doesn't look like it's a continuation of yesterday. it is more than the u.s., it is the rest of the world slowing down. >> thank you very much. >> you're welcome. >> former arizona representative gabby giffords and her husband will be inside a tucson courtroom to watch the man who shot her receive his sentence. he shot six people back in january of 2011. giffords and 12 others were injured. patricia mash saw him open fire. she said she is still haunted by

that day. >> every time there's a loud sudden noise, sometimes it's expected, sometimes unexpected, it's shocking and it takes me back to that morning and the sound of that gunshot. >> loughner is expect to be sentenced to life inside a federal prison as part of a plea agreement that was reached last august. a commission reports china may be two years away from developing submarine launch nuclear weapons. the u.s.-china economic security and review commission calls them the most threatening power in cyberspace and biggest challenge to the integrity of the u.s. supply chain. they recommend engaging beijing in arms reduction talks. now that voters have spoken, will there be a new era of compromise on capitol hill or will it be more of the same as we approach the fiscal cliff? there are vote possibilities coming up. many of my patients clean their dentures with toothpaste.

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what do we do now? will there be compromise or more confrontation in congress over the looming fiscal cliff? it's a serious problem. this morning there are signs of both compromise and confrontation. but there may be some reason to be at least a tiny wee little bit optimistic. cnn political editor paul steinhouser is following all the developments. >> you were just showing pictures of house speaker john boehner, the top republican in congress, and harry reid, the senate majority leader, he's the top democrat in congress. they came before our cameras yesterday in washington, john. they did talk about the election being a voice from the american voters for a call for compromise. and you heard both men talking about working together to fix the country's problems along with the president. but at the same time, you also heard both men laying down markers and both men disagreeing on whether whether it comes to the fiscal cliff the wealthy

should be taxed. take a look at what they said. >> it won't solve the problem of our fiscal imbalance overnight. certainly won't do it in a lame duck session of congress. and it won't be solved simply by raising taxes or taking a plunge off the fiscal cliff. >> the vast majority of the american people rich, poor, everybody agrees that the rich, richest of the rich have to help a little bit. >> another disagreement, john boehner the house speaker talking about doing a framework but getting a new deal done with the new congress. harry reid saying let's not kick the can further down the road. negotiations really get under way next week when both sides of the house and the senate come back to town. >> it will be a lot of phone calls before that. you and i had a lot of fun talking about the final senate races and house races where they were all falling. where does the balance of power stand right now? >> things have changed since yesterday morning, john. take a look at this. in the senate, we called two more races yesterday afternoon.

here's the breakdown in the senate. it's a little bit different than it was in the old congress. take a look at the charts here. we now have 54 democrats including one independent. as for the republicans, 45 republicans in the new senate. we also got one independent up in maine, a5 angus king. as for the house, take a look at. this we have eight races still outstanding. so we don't know where they lay right now. we have 233 republicans in the new house. we have 194 democrats which is already a slight pickup for the democrats whether it's all said and done. still, a solid majority in the house for the republicans. john? >> paul steinhouser, thanks so much. some of those house races, the votes separating the candidates is 100. it could be a while counting in the races.

>> 16 minutes past the hour. let's get you up to date, here is christine romans. >> just when the northeast was rising from the knees, another blow from mother nature. a norrest driving snow and slamming right into the areas hardest hit last week by hurricane sandy. over 100,000 new power outages reported in the region. governor chris christie says this latest storm could send his state's recovery moving backwards. take a look at some of the damage in guatemala. a powerful earthquake left 50 people dead. it left roads, homes, and schools in ruins. and knocked out power. some 600 miles away people in mexico city could feel it. >> a lawsuit filed in california is seeking more than $775 million in damages from south korean automaker hyundai and kia motors. the suit follows last week's admission from the companies that they overstated the fuel

efficiency ratings on more than a million vehicles recently sold in the u.s. and canada. voters in arizona re-elected controversial sheriff jou arpaio. he is known for his tough stance on undocumented immigrants. the aclu and u.s. justice department filed lawsuits against the 80-year-old apie yoe accusing him of civil rights violations and racial discrimination against latinos. and guys, you keeps getting re-elected again and again. >> thank you very much, christine. time for your early read. a look at the local newsmaking national headlines. this is chicago sun times, your hometown paper. jesse jackson jr. is holding talks. folks hinted over this. this is over his alleged misuse of campaign funds. he easily won re-election on tuesday night with 64% of the vote even though he's undergoing treatment.

>> front page news. >> it's a big deal. he is undergoing treatment at mayo clinic for bipolar disorder. >> and there is a whole deal with blagojevich and that scandal. "the new york daily news" has a forry about an effort to make puerto rico the 51st state. puerto rican voters approved a nonbinding referendum to change the island status from u.s. territory to a state. in one ballot question, 61% said they wanted to achieve statehood. then another question, 46% said they prefer to remain a commonwealth. so since it's a majority there, congress actually gets to decide what happens next here. but it's interesting that the people, the younger people are speaking up for statehood now. >> it is the younger people? >> a huge, huge number of young people would like to see it become a state. >> all right. you want to find out more about this, an expanded look for all of our top stories, head to our blog. coming up, a closer look at the fiscal cliff and the talk in congress about avoiding it. is there a sign of common

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we're minding your business this morning. the dow dropped more than 300 points yesterday. that's a lot, partly because of reaction to the re-election of president obama. >> christine romans is here to explain what this is and what house republicans are saying and what it could mean for your money. we don't have a lot of time. we want to know it all.

>> let's fix it quickly. we're starting to hear the players talk about confrontation less than conversation. and that is a change here. you have the same players but a new era here. i think the stage has been set for some real progress on this. maybe i'm being an optimist but what i'm hearing from the players from the first day the president gets elected is harry reid said it's more fun to dance than fight. that's pretty true. this is what john boehner on the republican side said, very serious talk now about the fiscal cliff and tax reform. listen. >> a stronger economy means more revenue which is what the president seeks. because the american people expect us to find common ground, we're willing to accept additional revenues via tax reform. >> did you hear that? common ground and additional revenues via tax reform. that could be finding more money. the same breath though he said this -- >> the american people also

expect us to solve the problem. and for that reason, in order to ga garner republican support, the president must be willing to reduce spending and shore up entitlement programs that are the primary drivers of our debt. >> john, you're the political one here, is he putting down the marblinger? is this like we're not going to budge but we're going to budge? >> he left the door open there. everyone, all three sides yesterday between the president, senate, and the house speaker left a little bit of the door open there. they don't want to show too much leg. they don't want to alienate the best base. but there is reason for optimism and hope for compromise, at least today. >> i know. 54 days to fix the fiscal cliff. huge tax increases and spedding cuts. nobody wants it to happen. it's just how they're going to fix it and who's going to give up more. >> i would say it finally sounds like they don't want it to happen either. that's how i felt -- sounded like compromise. >> additional revenues through tax reform is not that i will allow tax increases.

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areas hardest hit by sandy now have a nor'easter on their hands. >> facing the fiscal cliff, both sides talking about compromise in the wake of president obama's re-election. >> not so fast, the dea with something to say about colorado voting to legalize marijuana.

you knew this was going to happen. welcome back to "early start," we're happy you're with us. >> it's great to see you. it is 29 minutes half tafter th right now. a sequel to a horror movie. that is how the powerful nor'easter is described that is battering the northeast this morning. thousands of people forced to endure driving snow in the dark. more than 600,000 customers are now without power, some with nine days including me not that we need to know my problems, but not these people. a two to four foot storm surge and half a foot of snow. more than a thousand flights canceled in new york and philadelphia. and the path train between new jersey and new york is back to limited service under the hudson river after being shut down ahead of the storm. penn station in new york closed for a while last night. but thankfully it's back open today. we've got team coverage of this unwelcomed winter storm.

susan candiotti standing in the snow in new jersey. but first, we're going to staten island where rob marciano is and where they're reeling from last week's hurricane. >> reporter: a couple of similarities oddly between this storm and sandy as far as how we forecast it. sandy we knew was going to be bad. we knew it was going to be huge. we knew the storm surge was going to be close to record. it was still, it came in worse than what we expected. this storm, we knew it was going to be bad. as far as snow is concerned, that came in worse than what we expected. and in some cases we saw up to a foot of snow in jersey and connecticut. here on staten island, as you mentioned, one of the places that during the height of sandy, the water would have been up and over my shoulders where i stand right now. thankfully they did not get the surge. any sort of surge that was of consequence from this nor'easter. it wasn't set up. obviously, the snow has fallen. a couple interesting things,

this dumpster right here, that wasn't here before the storm. they brought it in because so many people on this street, the houses are still here. but some like this one right here, it's not livable. that one is shoved off the foundation. and where the foundation is intact, a lot of -- at least the bottom floor of the homes are completely scoured out by the storm. a handful of people are still hanging out in their houses because there was a looting problem after the storm. so they're dealing with in a as well. but this heavy wet snow has been weighing down trees and some of the trees lined up and down on top of cars and taking down power lines as well. we have another 60,000 people without power because of this storm. and it's not done yet. it's still snowing across connecticut, eastern long island and massachusetts. winds in some spots have gust over hurricane strength. not what they needed less than ten days of sandy coming through. >> insult to injury, that is the only way to put it. >> all right. we're going to go over to new jersey now where dozens of communities along the shore will

never, ever be the same after sandy. governor chris christie says this latest storm could actually send the recovery moving backwards. so let's head to the jersey shore. susan canned otdiotti is joinin live. susan, how will the storm impact the gas shortage there? can we talk a little bit about that or give me an overview at first of the situation there. >> reporter: sure. governor christie also put it best when he said yesterday i'm now waiting for the low customers to arrive. how much more could hit this area, right? sure, overnight they got socked with a lot of heavy, wet snowmaking the roads largely impassable in some areas until they can get it cleared out. this is a wet snow, look, you know, you can make a good snowball with it. pretty easy to do. along the coast, two to four inches of snow. as much as six inches at newark's airport. now in terms of gasoline, imagine, they have more power

outages as a result of the nor'easter. so again, it's two steps forward in the recovery and one or two steps back. they're still assessing how bad that's going to be. so for the gas stations and 30% of them were out before the nor'easter, we'll have to see what the numbers are as the sun come up this morning to find out where things stand. it could mean longer lines because major problem is they can't get power to all the gas stations. and so that's what's creating the long lines. in terms of here looking around, i mean no one's up and about yet. so it's pretty quiet right now. but when the sun comes up, we'll see how easy it is to get around. we know that we ran into utility crews here from as far away as biloxi, mississippi. they told us the work they were doing yesterday, those people that they restored power to, they now, as of even last night, were already losing power again. so it's a rough go for everyone here. >> it certainly is.

nice to see all the power crews out there working. man, under these circumstances, tough for them as well. susan candiotti reporting live. thank you very much. and remember, upload your pictures and videos of the storm to our i reports website. that is cnn.com/ireports. >> cuomo fired his staff following allegations that he used government funds to remove a tree from his driveway following hurricane sandy. kurr arranged with the suffolk county office of emergency management to remove the tree from his east north fork long island home. >> verizon wireless is giving cell phone customers in new york and new jersey a break on the bills. the area continues to recover from the effects of hurricane sandy. the carrier says they'll waive all charges for domestic calls and text messages between october 29th and november 16 rnlg for customers who live in places that were hit hard by the storm. that is very nice. >> that's good news.

president obama reaching across the aisle to avoid the fiscal cliff. he called house speaker john boehner yesterday, congressional leaders from both parties conceding that tuesday's election was a call to compromise. >> there's an alternative to going over the fiscal cliff by working together and creating a fair er, simpler tax code. >> this isn't something that i'm going to draw the lines in the sand. he's not going to draw any lines in the sand, i don't believe, and we need to work together. >> the ceo of a global asset management firm puts the odds at 30% to 40% that the u.s. will fall off the fiscal cliff. let's hope he's wrong. >> don't break out the cheetos or gold fish yet. that warning from colorado governor john looper after his voters legalized the recreational use of marijuana. that setting up a possible legal

battle with the justice department. so this statement from the dea, "the drug enforcement administration's enforcement of the controlled substances act remains unchanged. the department of justice is reviewing the ballot initiatives and we have no additional comment at this time. >> the problem is federal law prohibits marijuana use and selling marijuana for recreational purposes. now colorado state law allows it. so they're in conflict. the feds haven't said exactly how they will enforce the situation. it's clear they don't like where things are head. >> it will be interesting to see how it pans out. >> all right. it will be a new term for -- no, we're talking about the marijuana office. so what happened there, you knew this would happen. a special delivery of cheetos and gold fish which was sent to the colorado governor's office. the governor was out. his secretary accepted the shipment. the governor still has to sign off on this ballot measure before recreational pot use in colorado is officially approved. all right.

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good morning to you, washington, d.c. it is 40 minutes past the hour. right now 42 degrees. a little later, 52 degrees. it's going to get some thunderstorms over there, is that what i read? oh, clouds and then snun the afternoon. i am so glad to be sharing that. sun in the afternoon. so we're going to talk politics. with the political status quo secured, there's only one direction for america's law mab makers to go and that is forward, avoiding the fiscal cliff that is ip instantly dominated the talk in washington. i know it's dominated your conversations as well at home. the white house released a statement saying the president has already reached out to leaders and the house and senate and both democratic senate

majority leader harry reid and john boehner seem to be signalling a willingness to compromise in the wake of tuesday night's results. former senior adviser to president clinton and new yorker.com writer is here with me and republican strategist and contributor with the chicago defender, lenny mcallister is joining us from washington. vicinity seen new a while, lenny. so we haven't spoken to you in a while. i haven't gotten your thots ugh on the president's re-election. what are your thoughts on that? >> i'm not surprised by this result. i thought that it would be a close election with the popular vote. but you would see this spread with the electoral college. so to see how it played out on tuesday is not a surprise. to move forward from here, the republicans really need to examine how they message to the changing demographics in america. this is just yet another example of that. they basically use the playbook from 2008 and hoped it would work in 2012. you know what they said. einstein said it best.

insanity is doing the same exact thing over and over again and expecting different results. the republicans did that for two straight presidential elections. >> you know what? you and i have spoken about this a lot. that is how do you change the dem graphics? and newt gingrich talked with soledad about it yesterday. this is what he had to say. >> outreach is when five white whooit guys have a meeting and call you. you know, inclusion is when you're in the meeting which inherently changes the whole tenure of the meeting. this will be a big challenge for the house republicans. they're a comfortable majority. the question is do they want to in a disciplined way create a schedule and a program and include people who are not traditionally republicans in order to grow a party that is competitive? >> richard, i want to focus with you on this. we have spoken about this a lot. the republican party and how they can get some more latino support. i want to show you the cnn exit

poll. latino support for obama, 71%. romney, 26%. look at the african-american support for obama, 93%. romney, 6%. how do you change that? you are an african-american male. how do you change that? >> you have to engage the community. you cannot be afraid of the community. you have to go to the south side of chicago, go to detroit, go to harlem. talk about values. talk about conservative principles in a way that does two things, one, you're effective and, two, you're not insulting. they haven't been able to articulate the message without being insulting. i think moving forward you'll be able to see leaders do that extremely well. you'll continue to see hoerz that slip when it comes to this. >> richard, do you want to chime in on that? >> i would just say what lenny said and also to what former congressman gingrich said that it's more about meetings and it's about more than meetings and about more than engagement. republican party is going to have to change some of its

policies to address these fundamental issues in this country and the changing, you know, the changing dem graphics in this country and what people are interested in seeing solutions to. if you don't solve the immigration problem, you could have meetings. can you have engagement. if you have no solutions on immigration, people who are concerned about those issues are not going to support you. >> it's not just immigration, right? it's a way of connecting, really with, those communities. >> it is absolutely about connecting with those communities, and being able to show you're willing to have more inclusion when it comes to actual leadership. luke at 2010, the message resonated. you saw in allen west and tim scott. you saw people coming in and getting elected with a conservative message. it's about how you message, how you engage and how you open the door to leadership and advancing through the 21st century as true leaders, not just cheerleaders for party or for an archaic model of how to do politics.

>> what i would say is then it's about a lot more than engagement. i mean it's not about just getting candidates who look different to run under your banner. it's about changing the way you think about this country. it's about changing the policies that you're trying to put in place. and knno level of engagement, y know, you can't just change the atmosphere and change the way this party thinks. the republican party has got big challenges ahead. and the challenges, are they going to stick with this view of the world that is like all white and all male or all back 20, 30, 40 years ago? are they going to move forward and realize this country is changing as it always has? the country always developed and changes. >> gentleman, i want to talk fiscal cliff. avoiding the fiscal cliff is a top issue for the rest of 2012. the president made calls to congressional leaders. harry reid spoke yesterday about

working with house speaker john boehner. listen to this. >> this isn't something that i'm going to draw the lines in the sand. he's not going to draw any lines in the sand, i don't believe. i think we need to work together. >> do you think a deal is possible? >> of course. it's so simple. we know what the issue is. >> really? it's so simple. how does it become so simple all of a sudden? >> i think elections do clarify things for a lot of people. i think that we just had an election and i think members of congress are going to work together to solve this issue. i think this issue will be solved relatively quickly. >> relatively quickly? >> certainly before our fiscal cliff expires. i have no doubt that we're not, you know, we're not going to go over the edge. i think it's nerve's interest to solve this. but the real question is, though, does this election bring any clarity over the more difficult issues, the issues that have plagued us over the

last four years. >> do you think that republicans say this sent a really strong message? we have to work together? >> i think finally everybody will start working together. over to the last three terms, we've seen everybody be humiliated and be humble a little bit. in 2008, it was the republicans. in 2010, it was the democrats. in 2010, it's the tea party element. everybody is humbled to a point where they have to come to the table and start working for americans. i think we'll finally see some movement. >> all right, gentlemen, thanks very much. happy birthday to richard. >> thank you. >> happy birth dashgs richard. >> and lenny mcallister, thank you both for being with us this morning. >> thank you. >> 48 minutes after the hour right now. so we all remember the last time he was on twitter. coming up, why disgraced former congressman anthony weiner is tweeting again. stay with us.

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good morning. 52 minutes after the hour. the man behind the anti-muslim movie that caused so many rage overseas has been sentenced to a year in federal prison. he admitted he used an alias without permission. he used a different name when he made that film. that violated the terms of his probation in a bank fraud case from two years ago. you're seeing angry reaction to a new round of austerity

measures in greece. the cuts are required for greece to keep getting bailout funds. but they also mean slashing people's paychecks and cutting their pensions. about 70,000 people protested outside parliament before lawmakers approved the cuts. >> with certitude, anthony weaner is back on twitter. the former democratic congressman posted his first tweet yesterday since resigning nearly 18 months ago after sending a sext over the social networking site. this included a link to a youtube video raise ago wareness to victims of sandy. the rockaways fall in his old district. >> i think it's a safe tweet. that's a safe first tweet. >> i think so, too. >> thank you, christine. >> it is 53 minutes past the hour. coming up, powerless, cold, the northeast is socked again. hundreds of thousands of people are still recovering from superstorm sandy's wrath.

forced to pick up the pieces without power and in the bitter cold. we're live outside in new york. we're also in new jersey. and it's so 2012. there are over 100,000 in denver alone. now the election is over, what happens to all the ploil signs on all the lawns out there? we're going to find out coming up. >> but first, jermaine jackson shedding the famous name. why he is buying a new vowel coming up next. if you think running a restaurant is hard, try running four. fortunately we've got ink. it gives us 5x the rewards on our internet, phone charges and cable, plus at office supply stores. rewards we put right back into our business. this is the only thing we've ever wanted to do and ink helps us do it. make your mark with ink from chase.

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welcome back, everyone. 57 minutes after the hour. we're taking a look at the top cnn trends on the web this morning. first up, i love this one.

chuck strong. the indianapolis colts are shaving their heads tonight. it's a show of support for their coach who left the team to undergo treatment for leukemia. he made an inspirational speech before the colts last game. this one will choke you up if you look at it on the web. the colds and andrew luck are the feel good stories of the season. they're looking to improve to 6-3 tonight. >> great show of support there. >> it is. >> the jackson four plus one, tmz reports that jermaine jackson petitioned to change his famous last name from jackson to jacksun. he filed a name change petition tuesday in los angeles stating the switch was for artistic reasons. i wish i could explain this to you. the request has not yet been approved by the judge. >> we should change our names. let's do it in support of jermaine as of now.

as you would expect, the late night comedians had fun last night with the results of tuesday's presidential election. we have to watch it quickly. >> just relieved it's finally over, aren't you? after 18 months, the election is over. now, now we can get back to what is really important, what is going on with bruce jenner's face? that's what we need to be talking about in this nation. >> i think he just is constantly being terrified by something. >> donald trump was going to give president obama $5 million to turn over his college records. well, guess what? today president obama turned over his college records to donald trump. it's the electoral college record. >> congratulations to president obama on being re-elected president of the united states.

congratulations. it turns out it's not all bad news for the republicans. i guess seems depression is covered by obama care. >> all right. "early "early start" tonights right now. this is absolutely the last thing they need. people slammed by sandy, now dealing with a nasty new storm of gusty winds, rain, and snow. compromise or confrontation. both sides in congress promised to work together to head off fiscal disaster, even as they disagree over how to do it. up in the air. we are going on two days since election day, with several house races still too close to call. can you believe it. good morning to you. welcome to "early start." we're happy you're with us. >> it's 6:00 a.m. in the east. up first, mother nature showing no mercy.

this morning, the northeast is getting hammered, again. a powerful nor'easter pounding a region already devastated by superstorm sandy. more than 600,000 people without power for nine days in new york and new jersey. some of them forced to evacuate or hunker down overnight in the face of 60-mile-an-hour winds or a 2 to 4-foot storm surge and half a foot of snow. snow's the real problem here. more than 1,000 flights canceled in new york and philadelphia. the path train between new york and new jersey is back to limited service under the hudson river. it was shut down ahead of the storm. penn station in new york was closed for a while last night, but luckily it is open again today. we have team coverage of this untimely winter storm. susan candiotti standing in the snow in asbury park, new jersey. but first we'll go to rob marciano who's in staten island where they were still just reeling from last week's hurricane. hey, rob. >> reporter: hey, john. so many people who go through disasters like this, by this

stage of the game, it's let's pick up the pieces and move on and better spirits and the community come together. but when they heard this storm was coming, it ripped the heart out of these people, as many of them are still in survival mode without heat or power after hurricane sandy. as a matter of fact, yesterday, we caught up with a number of people, including this family whap live in one of the homes where we're standing near. and they described for me the kind of things emotionally and physically they're going through. >> i went through the most pain i ever went through in my whole life, from being electrocuted, trying to get back into my house, to watching all my possessions and my family practically almost dying. >> this has been a week from hell. i mean, you know, i'm grateful that i have my family. >> my goodness. they've been through so, so much, and they have their four kids and they're sleeping tonight, albeit, in some cold.

this home behind me actually shoved off its foundation from the storm surge that was here during sandy. it was up and over my shoulders. this dumpster is here to clean up some of the debris. this storm is not over, although it has stopped snowing here on staten island and eastern long island, connecticut, massachusetts, they're still getting it. some spots got up to a foot of snow, both in new jersey and connecticut. and also, some of the wind gusts recorded across massachusetts, up and over hurricane strength, 76-mile-an-hour gusts in burdens's bay there near cape cod. the center of the storm is near cape cod right now, swirling more snow across connecticut. a lot of places could get over 10 inches, if not more. more power outages, you can be sure of that. this is a heavy, wet snow. even in places like staten island, brooklyn, queens, certainly new jersey, i'm sure, the power lines and the trees, grabbing that wet snow are weighed down. a lot of it will melt, but that's not going to happen until later on today. >> rob marciano in staten

island, new york. all i can say is, enough. enough, already. no more. turning to new jersey now, where there is still a staggering nine days after sandy made landfall, it is a mess. governor krachris christie says this latest nor'easter could actually send the recovery heading backwards. let's go to the shore. susan candiotti is joining us live from asbury park, new jersey. walk us through what's happening there. >> reporter: the reason the governor is saying it may be pushing the recovery backwards is because of the amount of snow that they got overnight and additional power outages. the snow last night, zoraida, was blowing sideways. it was bad. finally stopped, overnight hours. but you can see what's left. look at the snow. rob is talking about the same thing where they are, 2 to 4 inches along the coastline. upwards of 6, 9 1/2 inches in seaside community just south of where we are. incredibly, the current plan is to allow residents of an island south of here who have been unable to get back to their

homes to go back there for a few hours this afternoon, so they are expecting, of course, the weather to improve, possibly even getting some sunshine this afternoon. won't that be a welcome relief? but the fact of the matter is, at least 40,000 more customers are without power because of that nor'easter that swept through here overnight. so it's a big mess. you can still see here, they do have power, thankfully, but the roads are an absolute mess. all this heavy, wet snow. so now they're going to have to get through that. and let's just see how the gas lines are going to be today, now that there are additional power outages and how that might also impact the supply trucks that are trying to get to the gas stations are that do have power. zoraida, back to you. >> it's just a mess. susan candiotti live for us. thank you very much. >> keep checking in with us throughout the day here on cnn and online. you can follow us @cnnweather on twitter for the latest on the storm. it is five minutes past the

hour. president obama fresh off re-election faces his next big challenge, avoiding the fiscal cliff. congressional leaders from both parties conceding the election was a call to compromise. what that compromise is hasn't been ironed out. we will go live to washington with more on what house speaker john boehner and speaker majority leader harry reid said. that is coming up. the presidential race is over, except in florida, of course. the state's 29 electoral votes still unclaimed, but they aren't make or break this time around, obviously. president obama still holds a razor-thin lead there. listen to this, seven house races still up for grabs, across the country, including the heated contest on florida's treasure coast between tea party republican allen west, democratic challenger, patrick murphy. right now murphy has a very slim lead of less than 2,500 votes. so in palm springs, california, republican mary bono mack, widow of late singer and congressman, sunny bono, is not giving up.

she trails with all precincts reporting now, but she says that a large number of ballots have yet to be counted. so she's still holding on to hope. and u.s. stock futures are flat this morning. >> christine romans is here to explain the factors that are driving that big sell-off. >> they've had the roughest day we've seen in more than a year, since november of last year. 312 points down on the dow, below 13,000 for the first time really in three months. can i show yo u the internal market sectors? internal sectors were showing us this was a reaction to the obama victory. banks were down, insurers were down, coal and energy stocks were down, for-profit education, dividend-paying stocks were down. the president said he would like to raise taxes on investments. many are saying, we think we're going to have more regulation and that's going to cost more money, so investors were at least making that bet yesterday. we're saying that futures are

flat now and maybe even leaning a little bit higher. so they're not looking for a second day of this, at least not now. and hospital stocks were up, because the thinking on wall street is that obama care is now finally, finally secure. between two terms of this president and the supreme court weighing in, hospitals will likely be paid for all the people who come in the front door for the first time ever, and that would be something that would add to their bottom line. why the market sell-off overall? because it just wasn't a reaction to the election. you also have this big concern about europe's debt crisis. the european central bank president, mario draghi made some comments about germany and europe, and that's exactly when futures yesterday started to go down. fiscal cliff. you've got the same cast of characters that have got to solve the fiscal cliff, got 54 days to do it. the markets want to see some positive commentary from the players that they're going to get it done. the debt ceiling, could happen by the end of the year, maybe into february, but more likely, we're coming up on very soon we'll be fighting about the debt ceiling again. a quick reminder for you, the dow is up, it is up 4% year to

date, so it is still up for you, but yesterday was a pretty tough date. >> christine, thank you very much. now that the voters have spoken, will there be a new era of compromise on capitol hill, or will it be more of the same as we approach that fiscal cliff that christine was talking about? we'll go live to washington, where there are signs of both, coming up. or that printing in color had to cost a fortune. nobody said an all-in-one had to be bulky. or that you had to print from your desk. at least, nobody said it to us. introducing the business smart inkjet all-in-one series from brother. easy to use, it's the ultimate combination of speed, small size, and low-cost printing. five days later, i had a massive heart attack.

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later, 52 and sunny. you have sunshine headed your way. so the big race is in the books, now the next big political question is, will there be compromise or more political confrontation in congress over the looming cliff? it includes $7 trillion worth of tax increases and spending cuts over a decade, and this morning, there are signs that both sides want to work something out. cnn political editor paul steinhauser is following all of these developments from washington. paul, could there be a compromise? >> reporter: well, both parties are talking about the election being a call to compromise. and yesterday, on wednesday, we saw both senate majority leader, harry reid, the top democrat in congress, and john boehner, the house speaker, the top republican in congress, each separately holding news conferences, and talking about the possibility of working together to try to solve the nation's problems. but, zoraida, in both those news conferences, both men also laying down markers when it comes to the negotiations over the fiscal cliff, and both very much disagreeing over whether there should be tax increases for the wealthy. take a listen.

>> we also have the problem of our fiscal imbalance overnight. and certainly won't do it in a lame-duck session of congress. and it won't be solved simply by raising taxes or taking a plunge off the fiscal cliff. >> the vast majority of the american people, rich, poor, everybody agrees that the rich, richest of the rich have to help a little bit. >> reporter: you just heard boehner there. there's a agreement on the timing as well. john boehner saying, let's try to get a temporary fix now, a framework, but solve these problems permanently next year with the new congress. harry reid saying, no, let's get it done with the lame duck before the end of the year and not kick it down the road again. >> so where does the balance of power stand in the congress and the senate? >> it has changed since yesterday morning. in the senate, we called the final two races yesterday, and now you'll have 54 democrats in their coalition, including one independent from vermont who caucuses with them. 45 republicans, and there's an

gu gus king, the independent from maine. in the house, take a look at this. we still have eight races outstanding in the house, but here are numbers right now in the new caucus, 233 for the republicans and 194 for the democrats. if they pick up some of those remaining eight seats, that will be probably a pickup of about five or six seats for the democrats, but the republicans still firmly in charge in the house. zoraida? >> and paul, key conservatives are reassessing and calling for change within the gop. >> reporter: yes, didn't take long. the election was over just one day when a bunch of top fiscal social conservatives as well as tea party activists and tea party leaders met here in washington at the national press club, had a news conference, were critical of both the romney campaign and of republican leaders in congress. take a listen. >> the battle to take over the republican party begins today and the failed republican leadership should resign.

out of last night's disaster comes some good news, however. conservatives are saying never again are we going to nominate a big government establishment republican for president >> i think this is just the very beginning of where the republican party conservatives go from here, as they wake up from this very tough election. zoraida? >> what a dialogue happening. paul steinhauser live in washington, thank you. and mitt romney might have suffered a tough loss, but at least his opponent was alive. get this, in florida, democrat earl wood won his 12th term as orange county tax collector, even though he has been dead since october 15th. same deal in alabama, folks. republican charles beesley, who died october 12th, won a county commissioner's race with 53% of the vote. >> not very good in the debates. . in americans show support for their favorite candidate by posting campaign signs, but what happens to all that paper and plastic and metal when the voting is done? in colorado, a man ended up with

a car full of old signs because his local recycling facility refused to take them, until now. >> well, they come through our system here and get bailed into cubes and we ship those off to the end processor, to make new items out of those materials. it can be a flower pot or a trash bag, it can be a toy, lawn chair, it could a bunch of different things. >> thanks to recycling, there's also a chance that these old signs may come back as new science during the next election. >> a rebirth. >> i love collecting campaign signs. if you have old ones, send them here. we love them. >> what do you do with them? >> hang them up and sign them forever and forever. there's nothing better than a mondale/ferraro sign from '94. >> i don't see them in your office? >> we'll share them with you. let's get you up to date with all the headlines. >> berman's man cave is full of political signs and buttons. >> maybe we need to check out your home. >> another knockout blow from mother nature.

a powerful nor'easter packing damaging winds, driving snow is slamming into the areas, the areas hardest hit last week by hurricane sandy. over 100,000 new power outages reported in new york and new jersey. governor chris christie says this latest storm could send his state's recovery moving backwards. former arizona representative gabby giffords will be on hand today in a tucson courtroom when the man who shot her receives his sentence. jared lee loughner murdered six people during a shooting rampage at a public event staged by giffords back in january of 2001. giffords and 12 others were wounded in the attack in a tucson shopping center. laughner's expected to be sentenced to life inside a federal prison. china appears to be two years away from deploying submarine-launched nuclear weapons. that's the headline of a new report compiled the u.s. china economic and security review commission. congress asked for this report, which also calls china, quote, the most threatening power in cyberspace, and the biggest challenge to the integrity of the u.s. supply chain.

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we're minding your business this morning. the dow dropped more than 300 points yesterday, partly because of the reaction to the re-election of president barack obama, but one of the driving

factors, the. looming fiscal cliff. >> christine romans is here to explain. >> the election is a status quo, it's a divided congress, it is the president in for a second term, but it has also reset the stage. and now all the players are coming out and putting their markers out, about where we're going to be for the fiscal cliff and negotiating it. we have 54 days to fix it. and a reminder, the fiscal cliff is massive tax increases and spending cuts that hit all in the beginning of the year. let's listen to what majority leader john boehner said. let's listen to him. >> a stronger economy means more revenue, which is what the president seeks. because the american people expect us to find common ground, we're waiting to accept some additional revenues via tax reform. >> additional revenues via tax reform. okay, that's a little bit. he gave a little bit there. he's not saying he's going to raise taxes on the rich, which is the white house would like to do, but he is saying that maybe, maybe they'll be open to closing some loopholes so they can raise some revenue. but in the same breath, though, he did hold the line.

>> but the american people also expect us to solve the problem. and for that reason, in order to garner republican support for new revenues, the president must be willing to reduce spending and shore up entitlement programs that are the primary drivers of our debt. >> so maybe we'll give on this, but we're not going to give on that. that's where you're going to see all the parties coming up and giving their, you know, charting their territory here. we don't have very much time to fix it. i love what harry reid said yesterday, from the democrat's side, he said, it's more fun to dance than it is to fight. which is true. >> and he's a former boxer. he knows a little bit about -- >> they've been fight for so long that they've took us here to the brink and this is one of the reasons why the market had such a hard time yesterday. because the market would like to see, the world would like to see that there's progress on this. and that the biggest economy in the world and the biggest democracy in the world is not going to fall apart over partisan bickering. >> the one thing we need to know about our money? >> the one thing you need to know, 401(k) balance are at their highest in the last 12

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insult to injury, the areas hardest hit by sandy now have a norre esrester on their hands. facing the fiscal cliff. both sides talking about compromise in the wake of president obama's re-election. >> not so fast. the dea with something to say about colorado voting to legalize marijuana. welcome back to "early start," everyone. great to see you, i'm john berman. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. that powerful nor'easter is beating up an already battered northeast this morning.

hundreds of people are still without power, that is from superstorm sandy, forced to face damaging winds, bitter cold temperatures, driving snow, all of this in the dark because there's no power. let's go right to rob marciano live from staten island to new york, where they're still reeling from last week's hurricane. rob, what's the situation there this morning? >> reporter: it's cold, but the snow has stopped. but we got more snow than we expected. i mean, just to have it accumulate is something we really didn't expect. and we've seen really 4 or 5 inches here on staten island. you know, a lot of people aren't staying here. homes like this, not completely wiped off their foundation, but pushed off enough, that's pretty much not livable. there are some people that are getting up and about. this dumpster here, because people are throwing a lot of stuff out, sadly. and now with this snow, we've seen quite a bit of additional power outages in new york, new jersey, and connecticut, and it's not over. take a look at the radar. show you where this storm is. even though it has not stopped snowing here in new york city, long island, connecticut, and

massachusetts, you still have several hours of this to go through, before it's all done. so they've seen up to a foot of snow already in connecticut. you'll probably see several more inches, and the winds are blowing as well. here's the forecast track of the storm, expected to continue to move off to the north and east slowly, not nearly as fast as we would like it. good news is that temperatures will be above freezing for the most part, and, you know, look, it's still the first week, pretty much, of november. so to get this much snow is unusual. as a matter of fact, guys, this set a record for the largest early season snowfall, beating last year's october snowstorm. and as we said, a record as far as central park goes, for the day, we're seeing about 4 inches. so unusual just to have snowfall this early, but certainly to come just over a week after a hurricane. it's just tough to even imagine. >> some of the people were saying that you expect this in february, but you certainly

don't expect it this time of year. rob marciano, we appreciate it. >> i want to go to new jersey now, another area just pounded by superstorm sandy. dozens of communities along the shore are still struggling to recover, nine days after that epic hurricane. governor chris christie says this latest storm could actually send the recovery efforts moving backwards. so we'll go to susan candiotti joining us live now from the hard-hit asbury park, new jersey. hey, susan. >> reporter: hi, john. of course the governor also added this, as only he can. what's next, locusts and pestilence? he may not be far off, but that's how a lot of people feel in this past week. i'm standing in a spot here, you see all the snow, 2 to 4 inches along the coastline. upwards of 9 1/2 inches, 12 inches at newark's airport. but here's where last week we were in the same spot. my colleagues, as well. and there's the ocean. the waves were crashing over here, and i just want to show you how high up they had gone.

way up over this building that we're standing next to. well, now, figure the floodwaters. all that stuff has turned to wet -- heavy, wet snow. and now this is what people are waking up to. many of them with their power out all over again. we understand that at least 40,000 more customers have lost power here in new jersey, and those are just the early numbers. so people have to now put up with that. not only that, but, john, they're also trying to figure out, how's this going to impact the gas supplies. will those supplies still be able to get to the gas stations that still have power? will it be hard for the trucks to get through? what's going to happen with that? so it's, again, just a one-two punch, like knocking someone while they're already down. john? >> new problems that no one needs this morning. susan candiotti in new jersey, thanks so much. some amazing pictures from asburry park. thanks, susan. >> and remember to upload your pictures and videos of the storm to our i-reports website.

cnn.com/i-reports. new york mayor andrew cuomo has fired his manager of emergency operations to claim that they used emergency officials to close a tree from his driveway. saying that andrew sir arranged to have the tree removed from his home following hurricane sandy. folks in new york and new jersey who got hit hard by hurricane sandy are getting a break, listen to this, from a wireless provider. if you're a verizon customer, they say they will waive all charges for domestic calls and text messages. that is between october 29th and november 16th. that is for customers who live in places that were affected by the storm. that is very generatious. president obama reaching across the aisle to avoid the fiscal cliff. he called house speaker john boehner yesterday. house leaders from both parties conceding tuesday's election was a call to compromise. >> there's an alternative to going over the fiscal cliff. by working together and creating a fairer, simpler, cleaner tax

code, we can give our country a stronger, healthier economy. a stronger economy means more revenue, which is what the president seeks. >> this isn't something that i'm going to draw the lines in the sand, he's not going to draw any lines in the sand, i don't believe, and i think we need to work together. >> the ceo of a global asset management firm put the odds at 30 to 40% that the u.s. will fall off the fiscal cliff. let's hope he's wrong. governor john hickenlooper of colorado says don't break out the cheetos or the goldfish, at least not yet, after voters passed a ballot measure legalizing the recreational use of marijuana. that's setting up a looming legal battle with the justice department. we have this statement from the dea. "the drug enforcement administration's enforcement of the controlled substances act remains unchanged. the department of which is is reviewing the ballot initiatives and we have no additional comment at this time." and on the subject of cheetos and goldfish, you knew this would happen. a special delivery of cheetos

and goldfish sent to the colorado governor's office by a local marijuana advocate. the governor was out, so we don't know if he had a chance to eat them yet. his secretary accepted the shipment. governor hickenlooper still has to sign off on the ballot measure before recreational marijuana use in colorado is officially approved. so we all remember the last time he was on twitter. coming up, why disgraced former congressman anthony weiner is tweeting again. is there a picture attached? a hybrid? most are just no fun to drive.

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soledad o'brien joins us now with a look at what's ahead on "starting point." >> lots happening this morning, right at the top of the hour. the nor'easter that you guys

have been talking about that's poun pounding the northeast, there are some areas that have been hit that night even had a chance to recover from sandy. we'll take a closer look this morning. president obama has now secured four more years, so what now? we'll take a look at some of those looming problems that he faces, the challenges of dealing with a divided congress. we talk to texas senator, kay bailey hutchison. san antonio mayor, hjulian casto will join us, steven latourette, and austan goolsbee will be sitting down to talk about what exactly is this fiscal cliff that everybody's up in arms about. and with so much at stake, is it even possible to find something to laugh at? well, comedian david allen grier would say, absolutely. we'll chat with him this morning as well. >> i'm so happy that kay bailey hutchison will be here. it's so interesting to talk to members of congress when they have one foot out the door. you tend to get a much more different perspective --

>> honesty. that people to feel they're going to come back to work next year don't have. that's 20 minutes from now. >> thank you very much. mother nature delivering a jarring hook on top of last week's epic body blow to the northeast. a powerful winter-like storm knocking out power to another 100,000 customers in new jersey or new york and the new jersey area. damaging winds, really bitter cold temperatures, and driving snow, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to hunker down in the dark overnight. >> former arizona representative, gabby giffords, will be inside a tucson courtroom today, to watch the man who shot her receive his sentence. jared lee loughner is expected to get life in prison when he goes before a federal judge today. he murdered six people during a shooting rampage in january of 2011. giffords and 12 others were wounded in that attack. president obama is a clear winner, but the race, it is still undecided in florida. the state's 29 electoral votes are still unclaimed this morning. but they aren't, of course, make or break this time around.

president obama still holds a razor-thin lead there. you are looking and hearing the angry reaction to a new round of austerity measures in greece. the cuts are required for greece to keep getting bailout funds, but they also mean slashing people's paychecks and pensions. about 70,000 people protested outside parliament before lawmakers approved these cuts. so he is tweeting again. the former democratic congressman, anthony weiner, posted his first tweet yesterday, since resigning nearly 18 months ago, after sending a sext over the social networking site. the tweet included a link to a youtube video, raising awareness for victims of sandy in the rockaways, part of which falls in his old district. >> right where his district used to be. and it's not really a typo or a smelling mistake, but it's

been bothering drivers trying to turn left. a contractor had the template backwards. they said they'd fix it after the asphalt drys. >> honest mistake. you stop and kind of think and look and hold up traffic. it will be a new term next year for president obama and perhaps a new reality for the gop as well. will that mean compromise on capitol hill? we're going to talk about that, coming up. up. a short word that's a tall order. up your game. up the ante. and if you stumble, you get back up.

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all right. you are looking at the capitol dome in washington, d.c. it is 42 degrees there now. it will be 52 later. i ran past that dome in washington the last three days. and you know what i noticed? they're already building the stage for the inauguration. i was wondering then, who the stage would be for. now we know. because president obama has secured a second term, and leaders from both parties are already changing their tune on negotiating a solution to the fiscal cliff.

the white house released a statement, saying talks have already begun with leaders in the house and senate, and both democratic house leader harry reid and john boehner seem to be signaling a little willingness to compromise, at least a little, in the wake of tuesday night's results. we're back now with former senior adviser to president clinton and new yorker.com writer richard socarides. it's his birthday today. we're also joined by republican strategist and contributor with the chicago defender, lenny mcallister. lenny, let's start with you, even though it's not your birthday. you're a republican. what is your reaction to the election? >> my general reaction is, we need more leadership, we need more inclusive leadership, and we need more visionary leadership. as a matter of fact, i have a meeting with somebody later on today, my choice as who i think should be leading the rnc, moving forward. if we'll remember, in 2008, after the election there, we had the uncoming of michael steele into the rnc. and in 2010, we ended up seeing a lot more diversity from the republican party in regards to candidates and people actually winning elections, both latinos

is and african-americans. i would like to see the same exact same in 2013 moving forward, but this time, not have it just be a trend, have it be an actual movement. that's something that the republican party needs to do, if we're going to lead a diverse america in the 21st century. >> can you give me a name. you said you had an idea of who -- >> i need to make sure i have this meeting with this individual first, but this person is here in washington. >> senator lindsey graham from south carolina has been talking a lot about the shape of the republican party going forward. particularly after this election. i'll just throw up some numbers here while i'm on this subject. among latino voters, president obama won 71% of the latino vote. mitt romney, just 27%. with african-americans, it was more of a blowout, 93% for the president, 6% for mitt romney. last night with anderson, lindsey graham, the senator from north carolina, was sort of talking about this situation pp. let's listen. >> i think most hispanic voters, they didn't have a real fondness for president obama. i think they saw him a lesser of

two evils between obama and us, because he didn't really lift a finger to do comprehensive immigration reform, like he promised. so we'll be back in the game. immigration is a national issue, it's just not an hispanic issue, it's an american issue, and there's a solution to be found out there if people want to find it. >> is it as simple as he says, lenny? will you get back in the game that easily? >> i think when it comes to our principles, when it comes to the economy, when it comes to education and some of the things we want to offer the american people, the conservative party has something to offer latinos and african-americans. but when you're talking about an electrified fence and you're talking about voter suppression, you're not going to win any voters within those two groups. and that's the reason why we need leaders within the conservative movement and the republican party, that can articulate the values without going down that very dangerous and insulting path that we saw throughout 2012. >> so, richard, the president was criticized a lot during the first four years for not doing more for immigration reform. with these election results,

given his strong, strong support from latinos, doesn't he owe it to them to go further out on a limb for further immigration reform? >> i think he does, and i think he will, the question is, what kind of cooperation is he going to get? you can't do it alone? he still has a divided congress. but i think lenny is correct, if the republicans continue these extreme positions, there's not going to be much progress. so they have a real question that faces them right now. >> you know, it's easy to say that the republicans have extreme -- easy for someone in your position to accuse the republicans of having extreme positions, but democrats have their own positions, which have made. the president's negotiating capabilities complicated over the last few years, especially on the fiscal cliff issues, on budget deals. nancy pelosi, a lot of people pushing him not to make a deal, when the deal may or may not have been available. is it going to make it harder, given this election, given that he has issues within his own party, how hard will it be for the president to make a deal

this time? >> i think these elections are great clarifying moments, and i think people will be a lot more willing to make a deal, i think there'll be a spirit of compromise. and i think that we will have a deal, you know, the consequences of not having a deal are so big, that i think people -- everybody knows that americans want the parties to come together now. the real question is going forward, after we have a deal, a fiscal deal, what is the president going to do next year to lead us? what direction are we going to move in the country? >> do you really think that nancy pelosi and some of the liberals from the democratic party will stomach cuts to serve entitlements? >> i think both sides will have to compromise and i think they will. >> lenny? you think -- are you as optimistic as richard seems to be on the fiscal cliff? >> yes win am. because i think that unlike 2009, when president obama was still pretty much moving to washington, he's going to go to the democrats and say, we're going to do this my way. in 2009, he handed over the keys to three hyperpartisans, rahm emanuel, nancy pelosi, and harry reid. he's going to go to washington in january and say, democrats,

republicans, i'm a lame duck president that is worried about my legacy. we're going to be bipartisan and we're going to be stately with how we do this we're not going to have a repeat of 2009. i think that we can see the true potential of an obama bipartisan presidency, if he chooses that tone this time around. >> i have a few seconds left here, so we'll engage in one of my favorite parlor games, because it is two days after the 2012 election. both of you, give me your top two names nor the 2016, for your party? >> for my party, probably christie and rubio. >> richard? >> well, it's going to be joe biden or hillary clinton or andrew cuomo. >> interesting. >> thank you, guys, very much. richard socarides, a cnn contributor and a birthday boy, and lenny mcallister, republican strategist, great to talk to you this morning. thanks, guys. >> thanks, john. >> god bless. 52 minutes past the hour. as you would expect, the late-night comedians had some fun last night with the results of tuesday's presidential election.

>> you're just relieved it's finally over, aren't you? after 18 months, the election is over! now, now we can get back to what's really important. what the hell is going on with bruce jenner's face? that's what we need to be talking about in this nation. >> i think he just is constantly being terrified by something. >> you know, donald trump was beginning to give president obama $5 million to turn over his college records. well, guess what? today president obama turned over his college records to donald trump, his electoral college records. >> congratulations to president obama on being re-elected president of the united states. so, congratulations! but, turns out it is not all bad news for the republicans.

i guess it seems depression is covered by obama care. so it will be covered. >> some late-night laughs. these guys are going to need a whole lot of material starting about now. their lives aren't going to get easier. 53 minutes after the hour right now. and today's best advice, coming up next. stay with us. try running four. fortunately we've got ink. it gives us 5x the rewards on our internet, phone charges and cable, plus at office supply stores. rewards we put right back into our business. this is the only thing we've ever wanted to do and ink helps us do it. make your mark with ink from chase.

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a short word that's a tall order. up your game. up the ante. and if you stumble, you get back up. up isn't easy, and we ought to know. we're in the business of up. everyday delta flies a quarter of million people

while investing billions improving everything from booking to baggage claim. we're raising the bar on flying and tomorrow we will up it yet again. welcome back. 57 minutes past the hour. that's a live picture of new york city. i wish i had some good news for you, but, boy, we were hit with a nor'easter that really is crippling folks all over the place here. so, i have a feel-good story for you. they're doing it for chuck, the indianapolis colts, shaving their heads before tonight's

game against the jaguars. this is a show of support for their coach, who left the team to undergo treatment for leukemia. the colts and rookie quarterback andrew luc are one of the feel-good stories of the season. and meanwhile, the jackson four plus one. tmz reports that jermaine jackson has petitioned to change his famous last name from jackson, with an "o," to jacksun. he filed a name-change petition on tuesday in los angeles, stating the switch was for artistic reasons. what kind of artistic reasons can you have with the letter "o"? >> maybe he wants to be sunny? i don't know. it makes no sense. call him. >> it's jermaine jackson. we'll wrap it up as always with best advice. >> we asked jim rogers, the ceo of duke energy, the best advice he ever received. here's what he told us p.

>> the best advice i've ever received is to stay focused, stay in the moment, deliver, but never forget to look up at the horizon and have dreams about how do you get to the horizon? >> that is the best advice from a company executive, that is the way executives think. look at right now, make sure you're delivering right now, but keep your eye longer term on what's changing and -- >> he knew where he was going with that. he knew exactly what the advice was. that's all from "early start" this morning. >> "starting point" with soledad o'brien starts right now. good morning. welcome, everybody. our starting point this morning, powerless in the cold. a nor'easter pummels the northeast communities already struggling to recover from superstorm sandy. now more power outages and freezing temperatures and inches of snow to add to the misery. we've got live team coverage for you this morning. plus, president obama back to work this morning, after winning re-election. but with looming